Parabola | Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
This Russian imperial oatmeal stout is aged for a full year in a blend of bourbon barrels from Elijah Craig, Four Roses, Pappy Van Winkle, Woodford Reserve, and Buﬀalo Trace.

Reviews by klink40:

More User Reviews:

05/14/13 On tap at Rattle n Hum, NYC. 2013 vintage. The first sip is like an innocent kiss & then it's too late. You find you have a tiger by the tail...or should I say it's got you. There's so much going on in the glass it's difficult to home in on where to start. Each sip is different from the last & they are spiraling upwards until you reach a plateau of familiarity that has simplified all the complexities of aroma & flavors that make up this admirable brew & you start to feel at home & very comfortable.

Not for the faint of heart (or anyone driving). I found myself sipping at a leisurely pace for 1) enjoyment 2) preservation of the potion, as it's a rare find & 3) self preservation. The 12.5% ABV, although present in every sip, never let's on that this is for adults only. Think of it as an encounter on a plane trip, sitting next to some extremely attractive & engaging person & your smitten. It's a short lived experience & most likely once in a lifetime. Because of that, all feelings are multiplied & enhanced, in memory, by distance from the moment.

Do yourself a big, big flavor favor & make some time for this indulgence. If you do I guarantee your self esteem will improve based on that decision alone.

Thanks to the numerous BA's who sent me some bottles of this; I've put it off for way too long. It pours an extremely dark brown color that might as well be called jet-black as it sits, motionless in the glass. A light-mocha colored head plumes up and shows excellent retention; it lasts for days and leaves nice lace spots behind as it slowly recedes down the glass.

The aroma is magnificent; lots and lots of bourbon that's mellowed out by a deep onset of wood and oak. Plentiful amounts of chocolate graze the top of the booze; sweet, creamy and delicate, like a molten mocha cake. Mild hints of vanilla ride over the top of everything, most likely an induction of the barrel itself.

A nice, underlying blanket of roasted malts gives a solid base upon which everything else seems to stand, although the bourbon is strong enough that it may not even need a "base". Parabola has a very large aroma; its potency outright is surely something to behold, and if nothing else, it tells you that this is gonna be one hell of a beer.

Wow. One sip in, and color me impressed. Incredibly smooth, silky, and soft on the palate with just a light tingle of carbonation as the bourbon-heavy brew slips across my palate. The "first and foremost" flavor would be the monumental heaps of chocolate that assault my palate. Deep, dense, dark, bittersweet, and creamy fudge-y chocolate cascades over my senses, clashing with smaller pips of vanilla to create an almost dessert-like delicacy with each sip.

Make no mistake about it, though, the bourbon and oak are as heavy as can be. Soft, warming bourbon entrances every sip just as well, showing the huge robustness of the brew and sending a permanent warmth from the back of your tongue to your belly. Not "hot", but pretty warm, while still remaining smooth thanks to the blunting efforts of the creamy chocolate and the oatmeal.

The aftertaste also contains a bit of bourbon and lots of oak; almost enough oak to call the finish "dry", but falling just shy of this mark. The malts open up a bit more with time, adding more complex notes of burnt caramel and maybe even a touch of sweet maple syrup in the finish. The dominant chocolate and bourbon notes still reign supreme, making this beer like an "adults only" dessert that would be fit for a king.

Well, it's taken me long enough to finally try Parabola, and now that I have, I'll be sure to nab up as much as possible each year that it comes out. Being from Southeast Michigan, some might say we're spoiled with "big" stouts; BCBS, KBS, Black Note, etc... But I'd put Parabola RIGHT up with those brews, and possibly even ahead of a few. So what the hell are you complaining about West Coasters?? This stuff is amazing.

This pours out the paragon of virtue. Completely opaque. Black walnut. If you only pour a bit like I did you will not see too much of the mocha colored head but it does refresh even though I did not pour one. It created a ring as I swirled it and left spot of lace and alcohol legs. In the natural light the beer showed a deep chestnut brown with engaging clarity. ( In the photo you can see my face in the beer)

Deep rich, sweet chocolate and hearty roasted malt combine on the nose. Subtle blushing cherries, bold bourbon and a bit of espresso coffee. The bourbon is like a flower that opens on the nose. It is fragrant and seductive. There is a scent of toasted coconut that is light and accented by a bit of vanilla. Dark fruits dance gayly in the background. Molasses rounds out the nose and the scent of sweetened nuts.

The palate is alive at once with earthy and full roast. This malt has been brought to the edge of blackness and yet it stays mellow and tempered with sweetness that collapses inward on all it's sides. The blushing cherry, the dry date, the light and airy oak, the creamy coconut and vanilla. The malt is dry and firm but just bitter enough to come up to the brink of char and stop short. Nothing burnt here. Smooth, creamy, chewy, full mouthfeel. Exceptional smoothness. The molasses takes over the palate as this finishes with bourbon getting lighter and the dark fruits getting stronger.

A slightly boozy finish takes hold at the very last moment of the swallow not with a big taste of alcohol but with a warmth like a smile from a gracious host who is sincerely happy to have set all this before you. The alcohol leaves a bit dry and fully engages the senses one more time before it's done.

Drinking this beer is like doing something you know is wrong and loving every minute of it.

Overall- The first time a met her we made love all night. I told myself not to jump straight into the sack with this and build respect for a well founded relationship. But I couldn't help myself. My animal magnetism took over and I did what felt right. I'm thankful she still answers the phone when I call.

A parabola is a curve on a x, y graph which, if you imagine striking lines through it, will have points of contact that are of equal distance. I picked up this definition in college. Thinking of parabolas in real-world terms as the trajectory of a ground-launch missile or gravity's rainbow, from a dense high-brow Pynchon novel, I also picked up in college. But my favorite Parabola is this boozy 14% ABV Russian Imperial Stout with its oatmeal taste, and vanilla raisin fragrance. Firestone Walker Brewing Company has concocted a real treat and it was while in college on Spring Break, a break from my studies on Shakespeare, Eisenstein montage, Brando-bravado, D.W. Griffith's racist apologetics, that I and a few thespian friends wandered into this brewery. They have a location in northern and southern california and surprisingly I found myself in the northern one for my first encounter. Drug dealers will tell you expanding your post to multiple areas helps with distribution, helps with profits, so it's no surprise when breweries say this as well. The biggest thing I picked up in college was my fine-tuned tongue for beer (because, and everyone knew, my gifted abilities at acting I already possessed on my first day of college (still had to pay that loan though)). Young and already drunk almost to the point of poisoned, we walked into Firestone Walker and was served the Parabola. On first taste I felt the curvature, starting point then up the y-axis, along the x-axis, seconds later down the y but still along the x. It was an experience. An experience which when I look back I can only recall portions of, like feeble lines striked through, only getting two points of contact, not the whole curve. I and my friends, we drank and drank this beer down and down and when the ambulance arrived to take our unconscious bodies to the ER, we did not cooperate, we were not appreciative. We were young and dumb and didn't understand. But also, we know these medics, fresh out of 6-months of EMT training, did not understand what we did. Which is how good of a beer this was.

Bourbon, vanilla oak flavors and a medium amount of sticky caramel sweetness dominate the flavor. There is a moderately-strong hops bitterness and some alcohol as well countering the sweetness making for a beer that somewhat bitter on balance. The finish is slightly sweet with aftertastes of caramel, dark roast, and dried dark fruit.

Appearance: Pours a gorgeous, completely opaque, pitch-black color with a finger of caramel/chocolate-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that completely covered the top of the beer.

Mouthfeel: Chewy an extremely smooth as there is no carbonation what-so-ever. With an ABV of 14.0%, there is a pleasant alcohol warmth on the palate, and a very, very long finish.

Overall: Wow, just…wow! Holy shit, actually!! I totally understand and see why this beer has such a world class reputation! Next to BCS, this is one of the best beers I’ve ever had! Absolutely world-class!

Look: Pours jet black, small dark tan head of foam, quickly dissipating. Very little, quickly dissolving lace.
Smell: Strong coffee notes initially greet your nose, followed by a pleasant bitter booziness. Balanced by a deep cherry and plum fruitiness and an very apparent charred oak profile that I initially missed. Amazing finish.
Taste: Chocolate, bourbon, and coffee all perfectly balance in an incredible symphony of dark, roasty and subtley sweet flavors. Again that subtle fruitiness like dried cherries or raisins, with a lingering hop bitterness.
Feel: Incredibly smooth for its 14.5% ABV. Sticky, very low carbonation that gives a nice sting to the tip of your tongue as you gather the flavors on your palate. Heavy bodied but I've never had a stout that balanced it so well with a such a level of seltzery carbonation that you barely notice. Amazing.

Shit, there's no way around this one. Imperial stouts like Speedway and Old Rasputin deserve their place, but there is a reason that this beer is considered one of the best in the world. Having just recently hit shelves with this 2017 vintage, do not miss your chance to get a hold of this incredible imperial stout. $9.99 a bottle.

Raul is losing it. Done losing it. Is Raul on DMT? Lucid, transfixed, going bat shit!!! Am I David Bowie? Because we have reached liftoff. Like a silkworm spinning gold. Like a waterfall splashing truffle water... This thing is ectstasy on defcon 5.

I sat on this baby for three years, and it was worth the wait. I don't have a side by side with a current vintage, so I can't really compare what the aging did. Let's just say the overall beer is quite excellent.

Interestingly enough to me, I'm more noticing the RIS character than I am the bourbon barrel effect. Oh, the bourbon is there, for sure, but it's not the first or most prominent thing I notice. Instead, I'm getting a pronounced licorice/tobacco taste, along with some dark, dark fruits, and then the bourbon coming in at the end. I think this would be a fascinating beer even without the bourbon barrel aging.

Pours a very dark and opaque brown, small head, some foamy cling. Smell is lots of bourbon, roasted malts, oak, vanilla, some chocolate and molasses. Smells great. Taste pretty much follows with lots of bourbon, roasted malts- but not as heavily as many for the style, more vanilla and chocolate than the nose, oak, molasses, a little coffee, light alcohol. Some bitterness on the back end, not much. Smooth, full bodied, a real tongue coater, taste lingers.

Truly one of my favorites, a classic that everyone should try, if they can. Full, rich, flavor, expertly blended. Still pretty hot after a year, as well.

2016 Bottle: Pours pitch black color with a thick foamy 1 finger tan head that faded very slowly and left very good spotty foamy lacing.

Smells of molasses, dark chocolate, tobacco, burnt coffee grinds, caramel, peat moss, brown sugar, bourbon, red wine or a merlot, oaky notes, light piney hops, roasted malts, earthy tones and a malty sweetness that cuts through and lets the bourbon tie it back together. Very complicated and the sweetness is stronger than expected, but tamed by the smoky/earthy notes. The barrel notes are intense and I found it very hard to distinguish any real essence of each spirit barrel used for this blend, but that's what makes it so damn interesting and enjoyable.

Really, really tasty at this stage of the bottle's life, looking forward to trying a well aged bottle to see if it lives up to the hype. A lot smoother than it should be, it's chewy and viscous with a nice heavy body that slides down with ease - incredible ease actually. A smoky and sweet aftertaste lingers with a touch of bourbon, a dash of hoppy bite and a slight bitterness. Excellent at this point, I'm sure it can (and will) only get better. World class indeed.

4/26/2017: Opened a 2012 bottle that I've had since July 2013 and it poured beautifully and left good spotty lacing (moved "Look" score up to 4.25), the aroma releasing a lovely mix of cocoa, bourbon, vanilla, tobacco, molasses, brown sugar, dark chocolate and woody/earthy notes. Raised the "Smell" score to 5 as it was a perfect nose at this point. Tastes thankfully like it smells with a well balanced blend of rich chocolate malts, woody/barrel notes, vanilla and bourbon which masks the ABV and goes down incredibly smooth.

Followed up the 2012 bottle with a 2016 bottle and it was much better aged when compared to the first time I tried the 2016 vintage. This 2016 bottle still had some minor heat but was velvety smooth and had a great feel, proving that age does wonders for this stout. It gave me a new appreciation for this brew so I pushed up the mouthfeel score from 4.75 to 5 as I sipped and savored this brew. Total beer geek moment, but this beer kicks ass when it's aged.

Overall score of 4.76 moved up to 4.86 since these aged versions got so much better tasting and smelling. Exceptional beer, much better aged and a full notch above my first tasting of it last year.

Delicious Delicious Delicious. Smells of Vanilla, Chocolate, and a little bit of coffee. One of the best smelling beers I've had. Viscosity is perfect. Not too syrupy. Definitely strong hints of Oak in the taste. Strong Coffee flavor with hints of vanilla and caramel. Simply F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. Had the 2016 vintage. Saving one of them to be aged for a couple of years. Can't wait to see how it tastes later.

2014 bomber in a bourbon taster glass. Just everything about this beer is perfect. From the way it looks/pours to the way it smells to the way it taste and finally to the way it finishes. Its truly an experience. You simply end up wanting more after each pour. Firestone BA program is top notch and the best example comes from its Parabola. There is really nothing bad I can say about this beer other than you need to be on top of the release schedule for it at all your craft beer spots.

Serving: 22 oz. bomber poured into a Founder's CBS snifter. No bottled on date, but this is roughly 4 months old at this point.

A: Not super thick, pours a medium-body, pitch black with a light brown head that sticks around the edges.

S: So for the style, this one is very, very boozy and with a ton of oak, char and barrel characteristics. Underneath that first layer is more tobacco and smoke, followed by a dark chocolates and vanilla notes.

T: Right up front you're just hit with booze and alcohol. Very hot. Middle of the mouth is your chocolate and vanilla notes, but not too strong. Finishes quite sweet with hints of coconut and dark cherry.

M: For as thin as the appearance is, it's a bit more fuller in the mouthfeel. Decent carbonation. Tons and tons of booze and heat with the burn all the way down your throat.

O: After hearing so many rave reviews for this beer, it just doesn't live up to the hype for me. I can't get away from how hot and boozy it is, making it seem really unbalanced. It's very, very aggressive. At 4 months, I thought this was ready to go, but maybe not. Right now, BCBS is still the winner, and even Black Note and BB Plead are a touch higher for me. This beer is still great, and a nice representation of the style, but this year's vintage is just a bit too strong and unbalanced for me.

Recommendation: Even though it's not the best of the best for BA Imperial Stouts, it's still worth fighting for to try at least once. Keep your eyes peeled for this one.

What a way to celebrate Father's Day. Parabola is an amazing Russian Imperial Stout.
It pours black. The smell is Bourbon, vanilla, dark fruits, and dark chocolate.
The taste was amazing. It was 53 degrees out of the fridge and the flavors took off from there. Sweet vanilla, dark fruits, malty, and chocolate. As the stout warmed to room temperature, the sweet dark chocolate came out. The bourbon was very consistent thru out. One of the best I have tasted, next to BCBS and Black Tuesday.

Pours with one of the darkest black appearances I've seen in a beer. There is quite literally no head on top. It actually resembles cola that has sat and let some of the carbonation die down. The nose is bittersweet chocolate, bitter coffee, and dark fruit layered on top of booziness. The alcohol is incredibly present in the taste. It actually cleared my sinus right up the burn was so intense. Once the burn dies down, I am left with bitter dark cherry, mild chocolate, and burnt coffee lingering on my tongue. The mouth is thick yet smooth, and as mentioned, the alcohol burn is predominant. Overall, I think previous vintages of this beer have been better due to the more hidden alcohol presence. Nevertheless, Parabola remains legendary.

2015
O.G. 32.74
IBU 82
British Ale Yeast
No. 006
Pours black. The nose is light barrel and stout. It has a thin tan head that turns into a ring. The first sip has coffee characteristics. Then I get some hint of cherry at the backend. Looking forward to the next sip. Still has lots of coffee flavors going on. Then a bit of slight bitter. This is really complex. The texture is smooth and silky. The third sip has more chocolate notes. This is so awesome. I have had the pleasure of some sours that change flavors as you work down through the bottle but never a stout like this. This is the second special beer i have had from firestone walker. Both were so amazing. This company is known for ipa's but not to me. Not anymore.

Midnight black pour with two finger tan head. Nose of dark chocolate, cherries, rum, coffee, graham cracker, sandalwood, toffee, and bourbon. Flavor is similar, but there’s a good deal of plum, nougat, vanilla, leather, and tobacco as well. Mouthfeel is silky, and rich without being too thick. The finish is pretty balanced, and absurdly lengthy, but there is char, and a hint of bitter coffee grounds which I happen to think only adds to this big boy’s character. In the same league with The Abyss, but more complex, and even better.